Beginning on Friday, October 17th, 2014 from 11:59PM EDT to 4:00 AM EDT maintenance will be performed onthe database server for UGA’s special collections. This is necessary to apply new updates to the server.

Richard Baker, US Senate Historian Emeritus, will kick off the symposium with a keynote address at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27. On Tuesday, Oct. 28 scholars from a number of institutions will participate in panel discussions, highlighting their use of Russell Library collections in recent publications. Presenting scholars will include Chris Manganiello, Jason Sokol, Gregory Mixon, Tammy Ingram, Monica Gisolfi, Michelle Brattain, Thomas Okie, and Ashton Ellett. Panels will be organized around the Russell Library’s six key collecting areas: Politics, Social Relations, Public Good, Environment, Economy, Peace and War.

Featured policymakers will include Chris Carr, Commissioner of Economic Development, Michael Thurmond, former Labor Commissioner and current Superintendent of the DeKalb County School System, Abit Massey of the Georgia Poultry Federation, congressional staffers and others who will join the discussions, building on the historical context of the themes presented and adding commentary on the creation of related public policy and its oversight in light of current events.

The Russell Library, a department within the University of Georgia Libraries, serves as a center for research and study of the modern American political system. Established in 1974 through the efforts of the Richard B. Russell Foundation, the Georgia General Assembly, and the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, the Library’s original mission was to collect and preserve materials that document the life and career of the late Richard B. Russell, United States Senator from Georgia from 1933 to 1971.

“Our holdings document public policy as the product of public interests and a function of the political process at all levels, and demonstrate the breadth, the diversity—truly, the full spectrum of Georgia’s political and civic life for over a century,” said Russell Library director Sheryl Vogt. “We plan to host a program that focuses on conversations about politics and policy over time.”

The keynote address and all panel sessions for the Scholars and Policymakers Symposium are free and open to the public and will be held in the auditorium on the second floor of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. For a full schedule of events and speakers, visit rbrl40.weebly.com or contact Jan Hebbard at (706) 542-5788 or russlib@uga.edu.

Overview of Events Open to the Public:
All events will be held in the auditorium (Room 271) of Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries

If you’d like to recommend a book, please follow Malcolm’s lead and fill out our submission form. The only limitation we have on which book you can pick is that it has to be one we own. (Check our catalog.) But since we have more than four million items in the UGA Libraries, we hope that it won’t be a problem…

Mayhew is one of the world’s leading authorities on Congress and American party politics. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, Congress: The Electoral Connection, which is one of the most widely read and cited books in political science. His other award-winning books include Divided We Govern (2005) and Partisan Balance: Why Political Parties Don’t Kill the U.S. Constitution (2011). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He has been a member of the board of overseers of the National Election Studies of the Center for Political Studies, and has served as a Guggenheim Fellow, a Hoover National Fellow, a Sherman Fairchild Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. He received the Samuel J. Eldersveld Career Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association in 2004.

For more information about the event contact John Maltese at 706-542-2057

Both the Main and Science Libraries buildings have seen considerable renovations in recent years. However, there are still some spots we think could use some improving. We want to know what YOU would do with the spaces, given the chance.

The Spaces

The Big Ideas

We want you to show us what you’d do with the space. Lighting, furniture, wall coverings, floor coverings, decorations – all these and more are fair game.

And did we mention the prizes? First place: $100, Second place: $50, Third place: $25, AND every entry will also qualify the entrant for a random drawing for a $25 gift card to the UGA Bookstore.

The Main Library, Science Library, and the Curriculum Materials Library in Aderhold are all hosting displays this week of Banned or Challenged books to celebrate Banned Book Week. Each book, while wrapped, has a label with a brief description of its plot/content, its publication date, and whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. The tag also tells you where, when, and why it was banned or challenged. We’ve included books banned around the world, historically and presently. The CML in Aderhold will have an extra display consisting specifically of children’s books that have been banned or challenged.

So stop by and pick up a book someone, somewhere thought you shouldn’t be allowed to read.

From the American Library Association:

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Highlighting the value of free and open access to information, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Read the ALA proclamation regarding Banned Books Week.

ATHENS, GA – University of Georgia foods and nutrition professor Caree Cotwright will speak about nutrition and childhood obesity at the October meeting of the Athens Science Café on Oct. 22 at Chase Street Elementary School. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the event will start at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Science cafes are informal meetings commonly held in coffee shops, pubs or community centers where people have an opportunity to learn from and interact with a scientist. Unlike traditional lectures, science cafes involve more open discussion and debate among the audience.

On Sep. 26 the Russell Library, a political archives at the University of Georgia, will open the new exhibition, “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch” examining the complicated history of the National School Lunch Program. “We approached the organizers of Athens Science Café about developing an event connected to the issues explored in this exhibit,” said lead curator Jan Levinson. “It seemed only fitting that a discussion about childhood nutrition should take place in one of our local schools.”

The event will take place in the cafeteria of Chase Street Elementary School. Cotwright will give a short introductory talk before leading an informal discussion among participants about nutrition and innovative interventions to combat the problem of childhood obesity. Healthy snacks will be generously provided by Heirloom Café and Fresh Market.